ENSC495/851: Introduction to Microelectronic Fabrication

ENSC495/851: Introduction to Microelectronic Fabrication
Laboratory Outline: Spring 2016

Projects in Microfacation Lab (ASB 8823)

Students will work in 3-4 people teams which start with a bare silicon wafer and create finished IC's which include diodes, solar cells, transistors and some characterization test devices. All the process steps will be done by the students, who will also characterize the parameters for each step. Electrical characterization of the devices (diodes etc) will also be accomplished. Students get to keep samples of their own IC's.

Week 1: Tour of Microfabrication facilities (ASB 8823)

Tour of the microfabrication facilities, inspection of chips under microscopes. Learning how to don clean room suits, gloves, handling wafers, use of tweezers,

Week 2: Demonstration of laboratory processes

Demonstration of oxide growth: learning how to preoxidation clean wafers, run oxidation furnaces, control of flow values, insertion/withdrawal of wafers, and measure the oxides.

Week 3-5: Growth and patterning of oxide film on silicon.

Set up furnace and grow oxide to stated thickness. Identify thickness of several sample wafers from their colour.
Characterize grown film: measure thickness.
Pattern the first oxide layer
First Lab report done on this work

Week 6-13: Build simple 3 level structures:

Build simple diffused diode, solar cells and test structures.
Clean wafers, grow oxide, define oxide layers with photolithography.
Do source/drain diffusion and measure results.
Oxide regrowth, define gate area and grow gate oxide, measure thicknesses.
Define contact cuts, etch oxide, inspect and measure contact size.
Learn operation of simple sputter coater (thin film deposition).
Deposit metal and measure thickness via profilometry.
Deposit metal (contacts and gate), define/etch, measure thickness and line widths.
Measure simple diode and transistor characteristics.
Measure test devices: metal and diffusion sheet resistance, contact chains, plus C-V of gate oxide (possibly).

Course Assignments and Tests

Two Laboratory reports must be submitted.
Students will be assigned a weekly problem set, including simulations of process steps.
One mid term test (about week 6) and final examination after week 13

Graduate Students

Graduate students have two options. They can take the lab up to end of Week 5 and do the first report, and then continue on in the lab but also do a Major laboratory processing project instead of the final exam. Alternatively they may do the entire laboratory like the undergraduate, with two Lab reports and a minor project (additional measurements on the devices fabricated beyond those of the undergrad students).

Page maintained by: Prof. Glenn Chapman

Last updated Jan. 5, 2016